Hutchison and Caslick boost rugby sevens

He's been back in the Australian sevens fold for only a week and didn't log a single minute in Super Rugby but speedster Henry Hutchison is heading to a World Cup.

His return is a significant win for Rugby Australia's sevens program, along with the retention of Charlotte Caslick, who's poised to re-sign after speculation linking her to the new Brisbane women's rugby league team.

Caslick, who's been a key member of the successful Australian women's squad, is set to commit until the 2020 Olympics.

Hutchinson returned to the sevens program after being released from the Melbourne Rebels, where he was unable to break into their 23 during the 2018 season.

It's a timely return as the Australian team and their female counterparts prepare to contest the World Cup in San Francisco next weekend.

Hutchinson hadn't given any thought to returning to sevens and playing in the World Cup until he was approached by recently appointed men's coach Tim Walsh.

"That World Cup was a carrot for me. I haven't really achieved much this year so I thought that would be great and Tim Walsh made it available for me," Hutchison said.

"It was quite a smooth transition so a few places fell into place for me but it's definitely relearning the (sevens) game a little bit."

The six-game, two-day format employed for most of the World Series has been replaced by a straight knockout, which will include four games over two days.

"It's less about the physical resilience and it's more about the mental resilience," said Walsh, whose preparation has included having his squad play darts.

Walsh moved across from the women's program, which is now headed by John Manenti.

While Australia's World Series-winning women have lost their most recent encounters against arch rival New Zealand, Manenti said getting Sharni Williams, Alicia Quirk and Ellia Green back from injury would help if they faced their trans-Tasman rivals in San Francisco.

Manenti had no issues with the high external expectations of the team.

"This group always put pressure on themselves to perform anyway so the expectation within the group is high," Manenti said.